This Hiphil participle describes something that pricks or causes pain—whether literal thorns that jab, or malignant leprosy that spreads destructively. Ezekiel uses it of a 'pricking brier' that will no longer torment Israel from among the hostile nations surrounding them. The priestly texts use it three times of 'malignant leprosy' in fabric or buildings, designating the aggressive, spreading form of the disease that required destruction rather than cleansing. The root suggests breaking open or irritating, capturing both the sharp pain of thorns and the destructive spread of disease.